The Piano Lesson

A PLUME BOOK

THE PIANO LESSON

AUGUST WILSON is one of America’s leading playwrights, whose work has been acclaimed as among the finest of the American theater. His first play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best new play. His second play, Fences, won numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. His third play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, also was best play of the year by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. The Piano Lesson (1990) won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. August Wilson passed away in 2005.

Praise for The Piano Lesson

“Jubilant . . . There are moments in this play that simply take your breath away. . . . The issues that emerge encapsulate the whole haunted history of American slavery and its legacy. . . . A triumph of language, music, unforgettable characters, and, above all, of faith and resurrection.”

—Chicago Sun-Times

“Among the most compelling, eloquent dramas August Wilson has ever written.”

—USA Today

“It is a work of incredibly rich scenes and powerful moments. . . . Wilson’s language time and again soars with lyric beauty. . . . Here is theater of irresistible power!”

—Chicago Tribune

“August Wilson has established himself as the richest theatrical voice to emerge in the U.S. since Tennesse Williams and Arthur Miller.”

—Time

“Wonderful . . . Seat-edgingly theatrical, thrillingly dramatic, extraordinarily funny . . . This is a play in which to lose yourself, a play that lights up man!”

—Clive Barnes, New York Post

“August Wilson dreams up marvelously rich and complicated people and sets them loose to tell unforgettable stories of their people. . . . The Piano Lesson is a lovely tragi-comedy. . . . Haunting . . . Wilson is a poet, a phenomenon, a treasure.”

—New York Newsday

“A feast . . . A gripping drama laced with sharp comedy, a fable with vivid characters and rich dialogue . . . Vibrant . . . Riveting.”

—Stewart Klein, WNYW (New York)

“The piano is no less vital a symbol of one family’s spiritual heritage than Chekhov’s cherry orchard was. . . . A stunner.”

—Washington Post

“Like his other works, The Piano Lesson shows a sure instinct for drama. . . . Mr. Wilson’s ear is unfailing . . . his rhythms, inflections, and vocabulary capture perfectly the rich verbal lore of his characters . . . the play . . . can take its place alongside other works in this remarkable series of plays.”

—The Wall Street Journal

“Mesmerizing . . . It is August Wilson’s most accomplished work to date, resonating with a poetry that enhances a strong story and illuminates expertly drawn characters.”

—Associated Press

“An enormously funny and always riveting drama of remarkable dimensions . . . farce, pathos, and ghostly visions all seem at home with each other in Doaker Charles’s tidy house where a 137-year-old piano dominates the parlor. . . . August Wilson’s richest and most provocative work so far.”